A Gathering of Shades: Exploring the Literature of Hell

Thursdays, September 19 – December 5 (class will not meet September 26 and November 28)

5:45 – 7:45 pm

Led by Tim Strzechowski

The idea of Hell has offered writers and artists a rich tableau in which to explore the development of humanity’s social, political, and spiritual mindset. An examination of Hell is really a way to perceive ourselves, our surroundings, our role within the community, and our place in history. Through lecture and discussion, we will examine Dante’s Inferno, Shelley’s Frankenstein, Sartre’s No Exit, Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, as well as selections from Homer, Virgil, John Milton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Albert Camus.

An educator for over twenty years, Tim Strzechowski holds an M.A. in English literature and regularly leads seminars on the novels of Charles Dickens and Milton’s Paradise Lost.